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Significant Digits For Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017

You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.


13 percent

That’s the percentage of U.S. adults who were living the dream in 2015: living alone. That’s up just a percentage point since 1990, but researchers are worried about the future given the considerable research linking strong social relationships to lifestyle improvements. [Bloomberg]


14 of 20 launches

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Monday from California, its 14th successful launch of 2017. The company is having a banner year and is on pace for 20 launches by year end, which would be a record or the firm. [Ars Technica]


14 wildfires

Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties were in a state of emergency Monday as 14 rapidly spreading wildfires had consumed 57,000 acres and forced 20,000 to flee their homes. [CNN]


1,000 ex-ISIS fighters

Since last Sunday more than 1,000 Islamic State shock troops have turned themselves in to Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq. The mass surrender appears to follow a series of defeats for ISIS, specifically in the former stronghold of Hawija. [The New York Times]


$9 million

Amount collected by the American Red Cross for victims of Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico. Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston, collected $350 million for victims. [Vice]


$60 million

SHAREHOLDER FIGHT: In one corner, the established board of Procter & Gamble, the 180-year-old $235 billion conglomerate that has — like many companies — attempted to adapt to changing cultural commerce trends of the past several years. In the other, Nelson Peltz, who owns $3.5 billion of that and wants a board seat so he can carry out a plan to overhaul the company. There are 600 people working on the election, and both sides have disclosed they’re going to spend a combined $60 million on the campaign. [The New York Times]


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If you see a significant digit in the wild, send it to @WaltHickey.

Walt Hickey was FiveThirtyEight’s chief culture writer.

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